Plug in type GFCI Question

[mmonette100]

Hi all,

 

Was wondering if any of you use the plug in type GFCIs. Are they reliable and as safe as the socket mounted ones? The reason I am thinking of using these is that I would use two seperate ones plugged into the same wall receptacle so that I can put my lights seperate from the rest of the devices. Any ideas? Comments? Thanks in advance,

 

M

[Dave ESPI]

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showt...threadid=101987

 

Read this.

[Brianc_4]

Nice Link Dave!! You may have just saved some people some cash.

[tinyreef]

dave,

 

now i remember you from the other boards! i remember your avatar (the bleeder). you've had that awhile, right?

 

i must have opened 3~4 accounts on rc and reef.org and kept forgetting my account names in between visits (spanning months ok? i'm not senile yet) so you wouldn't remember me. i was more of a lurker anyway, then came 56K, cable modems, and dsl. aahhh! i remember good (and contentious) discussions you being party to.

 

it's nice when the ol' neurons finally bridge the electro-chemical gap to latent memories. X)

[mmonette100]

Dave,

 

That is a great link but it doesn't answer my question. I am not trying todecide if I should even use a GFCI or use one in combination with a probe. I just want opinions from those who use the plug in type versus the wired in type.

[Jefe12234]

I tried a plugin type once. It tripped all the time. If anything on the circuit changed (like a timer switching on/off), it would trip. I have heard they are designed primarily for outdoor power tools and will trip during any power interruption (because you don't want a power tool roaring back to life unexpectedly).

 

I'm not sure if all plugin GFCI's do this, but I don't think I'll be trying one again. The wall type GFCI's are cheap and simple to wire. I wired one into a plastic electrical box with an extension cord. That way it works just like a plugin GFCI, but it doesn't trip on a daily basis.

 

-Chris

[JPF]

A permanently wired GFCI is the way to go, but not everyone has the skill or desire to install one. I use the plug in type on my children's tanks. They do trip easily but that is the price I am willing to pay to keep them safe. My electrician said that a plug in GFCI, even when attached to older "2 prong" outlets will be perfectly safe and is acceptable to code. I hard wired a GFCI to my tank because the wiring in that room is new and so the job was simple. I dropped a fan into the tank a while ago and the damn thing tripped! Money and time well spent!!!!!

 

Jim

[Dave ESPI]

Provided you live in a fairly new house and the electricians who put the system in did it correctly, You can ground to the Electrical socket box through the center faceplate screw. NOT THAT IT IS THE BEST, but for the plug in type, it works. I hard wire my tanks with a ground probe only when I have more than 3 electrical IN TANK pumps or devices. hope that helps. ???